PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Americans can expect to see tangible results this fall from the task force President Obama created to investigate the financial crisis, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman told TPM Thursday.

The entertainment can go further than expensive restaurants and bars. According to a complaint filed by former Tradition broker Brett DiLiberto in the Southern District of New York and made available on electronic databases, the firm ``regularly paid prostitutes to entertain traders.''

DiLiberto, as part of his job, frequently ``visited brothels masquerading as massage parlors,'' and was ``required as part of his entertaining duties to retain other prostitution services,'' according to the complaint. DiLiberto also said he went on a January fishing trip to Costa Rica in 2006 that was an ``extended orgy.'' On one occasion, DiLiberto said he was recalled from vacation to attend a ``customer drinking and drug party.''

Prostitutes, Strippers

Cawley is now CEO of New York-based IDX Capital, another derivatives firm. ``False and defamatory allegations were made against Mr. Cawley three years ago because he attempted to change this culture,'' according to an e-mailed statement from spokesman Lewis Goldberg. Cawley is suing for libel, Goldberg said.

Brokerage firms spend as much as 5 percent of their revenue on entertaining, Citigroup's Fandetti said. On fees of $10 billion, that would come to $500 million for the industry.

GFI ``has a longstanding policy of not reimbursing employees for adult entertainment,'' according to a statement.

FTFA:"Schneiderman's speech stopped short of specifics for the task force. He gave credit to progressive activists and the Occupy movement's role in public discourse, saying "true change requires movement-building" and "officials don't create movements, movements create leaders." "

What in the blue fark? If you have proof the banks have engaged in illegal activity then fine. Prosecute them. But if your prosecutor is cheerleading a political movement he needs to be removed STAT!

Hetfield:sammyk: But if your prosecutor is cheerleading a political movement he needs to be removed STAT!

Why?

Prosecutors need to be impartial, and should only prosecute cases based on evidence of wrong-doing and the breaking of actual laws. If a prosecutors appears to have a political bone to pick, they lose the appearance of impartiality needed in the court-room to convince jurors that the prosecution's cases are made for proper reasons and not due to political calculation.

RyogaM:Hetfield: sammyk: But if your prosecutor is cheerleading a political movement he needs to be removed STAT!

Why?

Prosecutors need to be impartial, and should only prosecute cases based on evidence of wrong-doing and the breaking of actual laws. If a prosecutors appears to have a political bone to pick, they lose the appearance of impartiality needed in the court-room to convince jurors that the prosecution's cases are made for proper reasons and not due to political calculation.

I fail to see how "giving credit to the Occupy movement's role in public discourse" negates impartiality.

Hetfield:RyogaM: Hetfield: sammyk: But if your prosecutor is cheerleading a political movement he needs to be removed STAT!

Why?

Prosecutors need to be impartial, and should only prosecute cases based on evidence of wrong-doing and the breaking of actual laws. If a prosecutors appears to have a political bone to pick, they lose the appearance of impartiality needed in the court-room to convince jurors that the prosecution's cases are made for proper reasons and not due to political calculation.

I fail to see how "giving credit to the Occupy movement's role in public discourse" negates impartiality.

Good point. But I would be more concerned if it went beyond this.

Party Boy:RyogaM: If a prosecutors appears to have a political bone to pick, they lose the appearance of impartiality needed in the court-room

Looks like we already have a problem with the DOJ and other institutions regarding a lack of prosecution on wall street.

Never thought i would hear about an argument about the, seriously, lone guy on the other side, but here it is.

I'm no fan of the the way the current administration seems to be letting WS skate and think they need to let the N.Y. prosecutor do his investigation in whatever manner he feels is appropriate without the D.O.J. pressuring him one way or the other.

RyogaM:I'm no fan of the the way the current administration seems to be letting WS skate and think they need to let the N.Y. prosecutor do his investigation in whatever manner he feels is appropriate without the D.O.J. pressuring him one way or the other.

Party Boy:The entertainment can go further than expensive restaurants and bars. According to a complaint filed by former Tradition broker Brett DiLiberto in the Southern District of New York and made available on electronic databases, the firm ``regularly paid prostitutes to entertain traders.''

DiLiberto, as part of his job, frequently ``visited brothels masquerading as massage parlors,'' and was ``required as part of his entertaining duties to retain other prostitution services,'' according to the complaint. DiLiberto also said he went on a January fishing trip to Costa Rica in 2006 that was an ``extended orgy.'' On one occasion, DiLiberto said he was recalled from vacation to attend a ``customer drinking and drug party.''

Party Boy:RyogaM: I'm no fan of the the way the current administration seems to be letting WS skate and think they need to let the N.Y. prosecutor do his investigation in whatever manner he feels is appropriate without the D.O.J. pressuring him one way or the other.

Eric Holder..

2008 Eric Holder Is Disqualified by the Marc Rich Pardon

I'm not in favor of pseudo-intellectual mind-reading that attempts to caste aspirations on a person's character based on one event in a person's life. That article was bad and the writer should feel bad.

Schneiderman is a hack straight out of the state legislature, who ran for the attorney general's gig because Spitzer and Cuomo used it as stepping stones and it worked out okay for them.

So he wants to go on a Wall Street fishing expedition, because financial impropriety bad, mkay? And eventually he will find some because Wall Street and Albany have had an incestuous relationship for 300 years.

Hetfield:RyogaM: Hetfield: sammyk: But if your prosecutor is cheerleading a political movement he needs to be removed STAT!

Why?

Prosecutors need to be impartial, and should only prosecute cases based on evidence of wrong-doing and the breaking of actual laws. If a prosecutors appears to have a political bone to pick, they lose the appearance of impartiality needed in the court-room to convince jurors that the prosecution's cases are made for proper reasons and not due to political calculation.

I fail to see how "giving credit to the Occupy movement's role in public discourse" negates impartiality.

That's because you are intentionally trying to ignore it. The law is supposed to be executed according to facts.not the whims of public sentiment.

Christ, I just don't feel it. People make farking mistakes, in this case he was supportive of a pardon that probably should not have occurred given the guidelines. He maybe even was corrupt or did it for the wrong reasons, though no one can explain what exactly those reasons were or explain why they are so bad should disqualify Holder from office. But so what? He is AG now. Criticize him for his actions from a legal argument perspective, not on a, "He once supported a bad pardon so must be corrupt and all his decisions are suspect."

I got an idea: how about people recognize that different people have different opinions on what the proper legal response should be to the extraordinary events that led to these investigations? How about treating legal questions as the complex matters they are rather than as political football games in which people try to score points on the other side? Is that really so hard?

Schneiderman was the chief sponsor of the Rockefeller Drug Law reforms, which were passed and signed into law in 2009. The reforms included moving away from long, mandatory minimum sentences, and allocating funds for alternatives to incarceration, treatment and reentry of prisoners into society.WIKI

Party Boy:On behalf of Wall Street, Obama officials pressure the NY State Attorney General to put an end to investigations

Interesting; the Obama admin essentially shuts down the AG's state-level investigation and then appoints him to a task force that the administration itself ultimately controls. Seems similar in some ways to the Clinton Secretary of State appointment; keep your enemies close, so you can control their every move. Chances of these "tangible" results being anything more than a damning report are very slim, methinks.

James F. Campbell:Party Boy: The entertainment can go further than expensive restaurants and bars. According to a complaint filed by former Tradition broker Brett DiLiberto in the Southern District of New York and made available on electronic databases, the firm ``regularly paid prostitutes to entertain traders.''

DiLiberto, as part of his job, frequently ``visited brothels masquerading as massage parlors,'' and was ``required as part of his entertaining duties to retain other prostitution services,'' according to the complaint. DiLiberto also said he went on a January fishing trip to Costa Rica in 2006 that was an ``extended orgy.'' On one occasion, DiLiberto said he was recalled from vacation to attend a ``customer drinking and drug party.''

... I'm in the wrong line of work.

No shiat. I just cracked a beer at my desk while I close out the last 20 minutes of my Friday and I thought I had it good.. And now all this about companies sending employees on Costa Rican fishing orgies? Damn..

GleeUnit:No shiat. I just cracked a beer at my desk while I close out the last 20 minutes of my Friday and I thought I had it good.. And now all this about companies sending employees on Costa Rican fishing orgies? Damn

Crack a beer at your desk only to find .....finance guys getting handies and doing rails off of stripper tities while making it rain with your mortgage.

Rich Cream:Schneiderman was the chief sponsor of the Rockefeller Drug Law reforms, which were passed and signed into law in 2009. The reforms included moving away from long, mandatory minimum sentences, and allocating funds for alternatives to incarceration, treatment and reentry of prisoners into society.WIKI

"In 2004, prompted by increasing pressure from activists and legislators, then-Gov. George Pataki signed the Drug Law Reform Act, a move that significantly changed the Rockefeller laws' sentencing guidelines."

TFA goes on to note that the driving force behind further drug law reform was...David Paterson, who had the misfortune to have been arrested under the old laws back in the day.

Schneiderman's role was that of chairman of one of the three state senate committees who had a role in crafting the law, so he gets some credit...but 'driving force' is a bit much, although typical for the kind of substance-free self-promoters who run rampant in Albany.

RyogaM:Prosecutors need to be impartial, and should only prosecute cases based on evidence of wrong-doing and the breaking of actual laws. If a prosecutors appears to have a political bone to pick, they lose the appearance of impartiality needed in the court-room to convince jurors that the prosecution's cases are made for proper reasons and not due to political calculation.

No they don't. If prosecutors were impartial the adversarial system of law would break down. Juries are impartial. Judges are impartial. Prosecutors...are not partial.

The financial industry has become the favorite punching bag for every NY AG wanting to make his bones and show the world what a tough guy he is. Sometimes it's warranted, but often it's not. If I were in that biz I'd be thinking of getting my company out of NY state and into one where it wouldn't get targeted just because it's in an unpopular industry and somebody needs a scalp for his next campaign.

jjorsett:The financial industry has become the favorite punching bag for every NY AG wanting to make his bones and show the world what a tough guy he is. Sometimes it's warranted, but often it's not. If I were in that biz I'd be thinking of getting my company out of NY state and into one where it wouldn't get targeted just because it's in an unpopular industry and somebody needs a scalp for his next campaign.

jjorsett:The financial industry has become the favorite punching bag for every NY AG wanting to make his bones and show the world what a tough guy he is. Sometimes it's warranted, but often it's not. If I were in that biz I'd be thinking of getting my company out of NY state and into one where it wouldn't get targeted just because it's in an unpopular industry and somebody needs a scalp for his next campaign.

Seems like Andrew Cuomo is the only Democrat who understands this...or at least he's the only one who understands it and says so publicly instead of pandering to the NYC party-machine hacks.

I don't get why anybody north of 287 would bother with the Democrats, seeing as nobody in that party cracks off a fart unless Sheldon Silver gives the word.

Which is not to say that the Republicans are any great shakes. Basically they're Democrats with a little less race card and a little more nanny state, with a small and noisy batshiat right wing who thought Carl Paladino was the cat's pajamas.